Dana Abdullah, an Iranian-born illegal immigrant and previously convicted paedophile, carried out a premeditated murder of his estranged wife, Avan Najmadeen, on 1 October 2018, at her home in Stoke-on-Trent. The attack was motivated by retribution after Ms Najmadeen, a 32-year-old mother of four, refused to support his application to remain in the UK, having converted to Christianity and separated from him. Abdullah, who had been deported following a 2013 conviction for sexual assault on a girl under the age of 13, illegally re-entered the country and inflicted 50 wounds using a kitchen knife in a brutal and sustained assault, as detailed in court proceedings at Stafford Crown Court.
The court heard that Abdullah had previously threatened to kill Ms Najmadeen, claiming she had 'dishonoured' him. After the stabbing, he attempted to cover his tracks by pouring white spirit on her body and trying to start a fire or explosion in the kitchen to destroy evidence. He then fled the scene by taxi to Liverpool and later Glasgow, before handing himself in to a police station, initially admitting only to being a 'failed asylum seeker' in hopes of deportation to avoid murder charges. Prosecutor Andrew Smith QC described the incident as a 'considered decision to murder his wife' amid their relationship breakdown and her refusal to aid his visa application.
Judge Michael Chambers QC, sentencing Abdullah to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years and eight months, emphasised the premeditated nature of the crime: 'This was, on any view, a planned and pre-meditated murder involving a brutal and sustained attack using a knife, knowing full well that it would deprive four children under the age of eight of their mother.' The judge also referenced Abdullah's prior child sex offence conviction, for which he served 15 months, noting it demonstrated he was 'not someone of good character' and highlighted his illegal return to the UK post-deportation. Psychiatric reports indicated Abdullah suffered from PTSD due to alleged torture in Iraq after his deportation, though this did not mitigate the severity of the offence.
Abdullah pleaded guilty to murder in February 2019. In a victim impact statement read in court, Ms Najmadeen's sister Hevi described the profound emotional toll: 'When Dana killed my sister Avan, he killed all of us, my mother, my father and her children as well.' The family, in a statement released after the hearing via the Press Association, expressed satisfaction with the guilty plea but lamented that no sentence could bring Avan back, noting the deep grief of her four young boys and the wider family. Defence counsel Charles Miskin QC portrayed Abdullah's life as transient and miserable, claiming remorse, but the court focused on the gravity of the crime and its impact.
This case, reported by The Independent on 4 April 2019, underscores the intersection of domestic violence, immigration issues, and prior sexual offending, with Staffordshire Police involved in the investigation.